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N Purendra Prasad

Three key dynamics have come to the fore in the fresh cycle of capitalism that is unfolding in the new state of Andhra Pradesh. First, capitalist accumulation is happening with a weak articulation and incorporation of labour. Second, capitalist development is being visualised in a city-centric paradigm with a weak vision of integrating the hinterlands. Third, these two dynamics are perceived by the state and the ruling elite to have little opposition, a kind of thesis with a weak antithesis. This paper provides a critique of these emerging dynamics in the hope of imagining a more inclusive Andhra Pradesh.

This article traces the trajectory of agrarian relations in terms of class and caste in Andhra Pradesh from 1956 to 2014. The analysis shows that land remained in the control of upper castes in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema, in Telangana landownership came into the hands of Other Backward Classes primarily due to peasant movements. The contradictions of agricultural workers, tenants, and the landless with the rich peasant class led to intense caste confl icts in coastal Andhra, factional violence in Rayalaseema, and struggles against the state and propertied classes in Telangana.

Globalisation has brought forward new modes of governance and technological options to urban local bodies in India in the last two decades. New governance mechanisms inspired by neo-liberal thinking make claims about making cities function better, substantially improving basic infrastructure and public services, and increasing local democratic participation. But a study conducted in two non-metropolitan cities in Andhra Pradesh indicates that the state has promoted public-private partnerships, outsourcing and contracting out in a way that serves private interests rather than social interests. The disparities between poor residents and non-poor residents have increased and caste plays an increased role in decision-making bodies, though through a so-called inclusive participatory approach.

The web version of this article corrects a few errors that appeared in the print edition. The experiment in restructuring the healthcare sector through the Aarogyasri community health insurance scheme in Andhra Pradesh has received wide attention across the country, prompting several states governments to replicate this "innovative" model, especially because it supposedly generates rich electoral dividends . However, after a critical scrutiny of this neo-liberal model of healthcare delivery, this paper concludes that the scheme is only the construction of a new system that supplants the severely underfunded state healthcare system. It is also a classic example of promoting the interests of the corporate health industry through tertiary hospitals in the public and private sectors.

Reviewing the manner in which tribal lands in the Araku Valley of Visakhapatnam district have been encroached upon by mining companies, this article argues that the various routes through which the commons are being eroded signal the urgent need for improving our models of the commons. This will help devise better vocabularies and strategies for a livelihoods-based approach to ecological conservation as opposed to an accumulation-based one.

Why would farmers keep their own land fallow as part of a voluntary "crop holiday protest movement" in a part of Andhra Pradesh is a question that has puzzled many. A field visit to the Konaseema region reveals that the dynamics of class contradictions in the area are also responsible for the nature of the movement that goes beyond the issue of remunerative prices.

﻿Forced relocation results in profound social economic and cultural disruption in the lives of the affected people. Not only does it deprive them of their means of livelihood but uproots them from shared communal space. Women, service castes, scheduled castes and tribes find their skills redundant in new environs, and bereft of institutional supports, become all the more vulnerable.

﻿Environment N Purendra Prasad P Venkata Rao Recurrent drought situations bring about substantial socio-cultural changes in the village set-up. This article studies the coping mechanisms of a village community in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh in scarcity conditions. Erosion of traditional occupational relationships, sale of land and livestock, seasonal and permanent migration are some of the graded responses to increase in severity of the drought.

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